Researchers find links between birth month and health

People born in May have the lowest disease risk, and those in October have the highest risk, a computational method developed by scientists to investigate the relationship between birth month and disease risk shows.

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Researchers at Columbia University have developed this algorithm to examine New York City medical databases and found 55 diseases that correlated with the season of birth.

“It’s important not to get overly nervous about these results because even though, we found significant associations the overall disease risk is not that great,” Tatonetti said.

“The risk related to birth month is relatively minor when compared to more influential variables like diet and exercise,” Tatonetti added.

The new data are consistent with previous research on individual diseases. Thus, the authors found that asthma risk is greatest for July and October babies.

“Faster computers and electronic health records are accelerating the pace of discovery. We are working to help doctors solve important clinical problems using this new wealth of data,” said the study’s lead author, Mary Regina Boland, a graduate student at Columbia.

The study appeared in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. (IANS)